The Labour vote-rigging scandal in Falkirk has deepened after Ed Miliband
admitted that a whistleblower was signed up as a party member by someone
else.

Michelle Hornall is one of several people who claimed to have been signed up to Labour without their knowledge as part of a Unite plot to rig the selection process for the general election candidate.

Mr Miliband said that Ms Hornall was signed up by her father, Michael Kane, a friend of the Unite convener at the centre of the allegations.

He twice refused to answer whether it was within party rules and legal for third parties to sign up people as Labour members without their knowledge but insisted there was “no case for further action”.

Sources close to the Labour leader later pointed the finger at Mr Kane, stating that individuals could sign up family as Labour members but would be expected to tell them.

However, the admission increased the pressure on Mr Miliband to reopen the party’s Falkirk inquiry, which concluded there was no wrongdoing by Unite after the Kane family supposedly withdrew its allegations.

Earlier this week, Lorraine Kane, Ms Hornall’s mother, denied she had retracted her accusation that she was given Labour membership without her knowledge.

It is alleged that Mr Kane signed up his family during a meeting in a pub with Mr Deans, the chairman of the local constituency party and a close ally of Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary.

Asked about Ms Hornall’s case on a visit to Scotland, Mr Miliband said: “What you will find of that particular lady is that her father, Mr Kane, has given us a sworn affidavit that he was the person who signed up his family to the Labour Party.

“So we have got very, very clear and legal evidence from the individual concerned about how that lady was signed up to the Labour Party.”

Asked if this was within party rules and the law, Mr Miliband repeated: “We’ve looked into all the allegations that have been made and we’ve talked to that family and they’ve given us very, very clear evidence.”

Challenged again whether it was legal to sign up other people to the Labour Party without prior consent, he said: “We’re satisfied there is no case for further action.”

The row centres on allegations that Mr Deans tried to secure the seat for Karie Murphy, another close friend of Mr McCluskey, by signing up new party members without their knowledge.

Leaked emails, found on Mr Deans’ work computer, suggested that Unite and Mr Deans had drafted a statement to be put to members of the Kane family that would help to clear his name.

The Labour leader faced further questions after Ms Hornall’s husband suggested to the Times that his wife’s membership was paid for by Mr Deans and the affair will “drag on until it gets brushed under the carpet.”

Alistair Darling, the former Chancellor, and Johann Lamont, the Scottish Labour leader, both called for the inquiry to be reopened this week in light of Mrs Kane’s claims.

Michael Matheson, the SNP MSP for Falkirk, challenged Mr Miliband to visit the town and explain the goings-on “and what exactly he is doing to regain their trust”.

A Unite spokesman said: "The Kane family are not and never have been Unite members. Unite therefore did not sign them up to the Labour Party, either through the union-join scheme that then existed, or otherwise."